Children as young as 10 are becoming addicted to social media and may need treatment to prevent lasting damage, experts have warned.
Dr Abdulqader Al Khayyat, chairman of the Erada Rehabilitation Centre, said over-exposure to games, apps and other web platforms could impact emotional development.
In an interview with The National, Dr Al Khayyat said recent studies had linked significant social media use to sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression.
He urged parents to be more wary of the potential problems of online use and confirmed a new department at his centre had been established to help treat those affected.
"Children's exposure to social media, online programmes and violent games can be severely damaging to their development," he said.
"Limiting their exposure gives them the opportunity to explore their hobbies and become more socially active with their peers."
The Erada Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre was opened in Al Khawaneej in Dubai in January last year. Since then, officials have not only treated drug addicts and alcoholics, but have also dealt with those suffering from overexposure to online tools.
According to a recent survey conducted by the UAE National Media Council, 48 per cent of Emiratis use social networking apps, with 42 per cent of Arab expats and 37.4 per cent of all other nationalities also admitting to being subscribers.
And out of the 3,133 responses, 71 per cent of young people in the UAE said they used social media on a daily basis.
Dr Al Khayyat confirmed several issues lie behind social media addiction, including weak family ties.
“Youngsters need to be educated about social media platforms and its risks in schools," he said.
"It must be part of their curriculum, especially seeing as misuse of social media platforms can land a person in jail.
“Family members need to talk to each other more. Can you imagine that some families actually communicate with each other via WhatsApp while they're at home?”
Claudio Marianti di Pergola, Chairman and Co-Founder of Vibe, a new rehabilitation centre in Tuscany, Italy, which helps treats addictions and mental health disorders, added: “We would classify social media addiction as a behavioural disorder rather than a psychiatric disorder.
"Conscious thought and decision-making contribute to the condition which sets it apart from other mental disorders. It can be compared more closely to substance abuse or an eating disorder.
“Depending on how serious the individual is affected by their use of social media, a person might suffer from sleep deprivation and anxiety.
"It has the potential to develop into a full-blown anxiety disorder, bringing with it a host of different issues including panic attacks, chest pains and exacerbated or irrational fears."
Under UAE law, those found guilty of committing cybercrime could face up to life imprisonment or a fine of between Dh50,000 and Dh3 million.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
